Top-ranked Ottawa blanks Montreal in opening match of 2014 CIS women’s soccer championship

QUEBEC CITY (CIS) – The Ottawa Gee-Gees launched the festivities of the 2014 CIS women's soccer championship Thursday morning with a 2-0 win against the Montreal Carabins in the first quarter-final played at Stade TELUS-Université Laval in Quebec City.

Online Boxscore: CLICK HERE

Championship Site: CLICK HERE 

Goals from Meaghan Ramsden (Ottawa, Ont.) and OUA standout MVP Pilar Khoury (Ottawa, Ont.) in the first half paved the way to lead the OUA champions to victory.

With the win, Ottawa booked their ticket into the semifinals of the championship on Friday at 4 p.m. They will face the winner of quarter-final #2 between UOIT and Trinity Western. The Carabins will play a consolation match at 11 a.m. against the loser of that matchup.

"We are really happy with the way we came out. We put pressure on Montreal really early, we scored the goal five minutes in. It helped us settle down. We had a game plan coming in and in the first half, the team executed really well," said Gee-Gees coach Steve Johnson after the game.

Carabins head coach Kevin McConnell could not hide his disappointment. "We are obviously disappointed with the way we came out in the first half. We didn't start well and it makes it difficult when you give up a penalty in the first five minutes of a game," said McConnell. "That said, we didn't control the last 40 minutes of the half either. We played a good second half but we didn't create enough chances."

To watch and hear post-game comments from both coaches: CLICK HERE

From the opening minute the Gee-Gees were quick to prove why they were ranked number one heading into the tournament. Meaghan Ramsden (Ottawa, Ont.) converted a penalty kick in the sixth minute of play, giving a 1-0 lead to the OUA champions.

The Carabins came close to tying it in the 15th minute, but midfielder Laura Chenard's (Sainte-Luce, Que.) shot hit the crossbar. After extended play of even possession Ottawa doubled its lead in the 33rd minute. Julia Francki (Orleans, Ont.) headed a corner kick in the direction of Pilar Khoury (Ottawa, Ont.) who sent the ball into the net.

Montreal came close to scoring with a good chance in the 43rd minute, but Laurianne Garant-Saine's (Montreal, Que) free kick just outside the penalty area was saved by Gee-Gees keeper Cynthia Leblanc (Granby, Que.).

The Carabins began the second half just as they ended the first, creating a great scoring chance in the 48th minute when Kim Brûlé (Trois-Rivieres, Que.) drilled a shot, but once again Gee-Gees Leblanc stood tall. Montreal was able to put together a stronger second 45 minutes, but failed to break through the Gee-Gees defence.

SCORING SUMMARY:

OTT 1-0-0: 2
MTL 0-0-0-: 0

First Half:
1. OTT Meaghan Ramsden (1) (penalty kick), 6^th
2. OTT Pilar Khoury (1) (Julia Francki), 33^rd

Second Half:
No Scoring.

Goalkeepers:
OTT: Cynthia Leblanc (W, 0 GA, 3 saves, 90:00, 1-0)

MTL: Emily Beaudouin (L, 2 GA, 2 saves, 90:00, 0-1)

Team Stats:
Shots: OTT 5, MTL 15

Shots on net: OTT 4, MTL 3
Corners: OTT 2, MTL 7
Offsides: OTT 3, MTL 0
Fouls: OTT 15, MTL 9
Yellow cards: MTL (Laura Chenard)
Red cards: none

Players of the game:

OTT: Pilar Khoury

MTL: Constance de Chantal Dumont

Source: CIS